The Question is the Answer
Appeared in Volume 6/2, May 1993
What is the result of saying the following sentence twice:
'What is the result of saying the following sentence twice?' ?
Stein Kulseth
I once read that the following was the first example of a single-statement
paradox which is not self-referential. (i.e. it does not contain 'this
sentence', and therefore refers to all identical sentences).
'Yields a falsehood when appended to its own quotation'
Yields a falsehood when appended to its own quotation.
T.M. Speight
90tms@eng.cam.ac.uk
"Yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation"
Yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation.
Appears in Douglas Hofstadter's "Godel, Escher, Bach".
Steven Winikoff
smw@alcor.concordia.ca
The classic:
The question is, what is the question?
D. Spencer Beecher
dsbb@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu
My English Prof. came up with this one, unintentionally:
Which is the nonrestrictive clause beginning?
Lisa Ehren
How about: "what is the most used question word?"
Guenter Hoens
hoens@gmd.de
A professor once gave a final exam consisting of only the sentence:
"Write a question that you feel would be suitable for a final exam and answer
it."
One student thought for a few moments, then wrote down the sentence twice.
Kristofor A Varhus
varhus@eniac.seas.upenn.edu
